844 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



St inhabits the warmer parts of America, and is 

 usually regarded as a snake by the masses, because 

 of its general resemblance to that animal; yet on 

 account of its structure it is clearly classified 

 among: the lizards. For example, snakes have no 

 true eyelids; but this and other lizards have. Also 

 the skeletel differences about the heads of snakes 

 and lizards are clearly marked; and thus an extend- 

 ed list of characters can be given, which ally it to 

 the lizards, and remove it from among the snakes, 

 notwithstanding its general" 1 resemblance to the 

 latter. This glass-snake inhabits the drier local- 

 ities, where it often burrows in the ground, and is a 

 harmless little creature. Bro. Mcl.'s discovery, 

 that three or four inches of the head is all the body 

 there is, is explained by the fact that it is a little 

 lizard with a very long tail. There is an erroneous 

 opinion somewhat common, that the pieces of the 

 tail, after being broken off, often join the body 

 again. This false notion is explained by the fact 

 that in this, as in many of the lower forms of ani- 

 mals, lost parts soon grow out again. Starfish fur- 

 nish frequent illustrations of this quality, as it is a 

 daily occurrence to find them with one arm gone, 

 but a small arm growing out to take the place of 

 the lost member. I have one in my collection that 

 had lost four of the arms, and the one remaining 

 was reproducing the four lost members. The lob- 

 ster also often furnishes marked illustrations of 

 this ability to reproduce lost parts. A few years 

 since, when engaged with others in marine re- 

 searches under the auspices of the TJ. S. Govern- 

 ment, we had in an aquarium one day a dilapidated 

 old veteran lobster which looked as though he was 

 the "lone survivor of many deadly conflicts." He 

 had one very small broken leg, one broken claw, 

 one stub of an antenna three-fourths of an inch 

 long, and his tail damaged. Upon shedding his 

 skin, as all Crustacea (the lobster and crab group) 

 do periodically, he came out perfectly whole, anten- 

 na, claw, leg, and tail, as good as new, and doubtless 

 he was ready for the next "scrimmage" in Lob- 

 stertown. Prof. B. F. Koons. 



Storrs, Ct., Oct. 7, 1889. 



ALFALFA. 



HOW THAT 20,000 LBS. OF HONEY WAS SECURED. 



fOtJ ask me to tell you and the readers of 

 Gleanings how I made that 30,000 lbs. of 

 honey from 190 colonies, spring count. I 

 should have made double that amount if it 

 had been a good season, but we have some 

 drawbacks; viz., 1. I moved my bees three miles in 

 March after they had commenced to swarm; 2. 

 When the honey season should have commenced, 

 the army-worm ate all the bloom from the alfalfa 

 as fast as it came, so that the first crop of alfalfa 

 produced no honey, and we had to depend on the 

 wild flowers for our first crop; but the second and 

 third crops were good; the fourth was destroyed by 

 a small grasshopper not much larger than a ilea; 

 but he was active, and destroyed the bloom as fast 

 as it appeared ; hence there was no honey from this 

 source. The fifth crop is fair, and we are now tak- 

 ing it as fast as we can; and if nothing interferes 

 we shall probably get ;i00 five-gallon can6 more, all 

 from alfalfa. The season has been so poor we have 

 saved only about 85 or 90 swarms from 190 colonies." 

 Now, friend Root, thig honey was all made from 



alfalfa, and other;kindred plants that werte depend- 

 ent upon irrigation for their existence. As before 

 stated, I moved m.vjbees in March, three miles, to a 

 location where they would have;il % sections of al- 

 falfa within one mile of the apiary; but in one 

 mile another man sat down with 200 colonies, be- 

 sides severai'small apiaries of 25 to 30 colonies; 2\b 

 miles north, an apiary of 200 hives; 3 miles N. W., 

 an apiary of 300 colonies, so you see if my bees 

 could have had it all to themselves they would have 

 doubled the yield. Another„drawback was that 1 

 had an inexperienced man to take care of them on 

 shares. I think if I had had a good man he would 

 have succeeded better, notwithstanding all our 

 drawbacks. Why, it sometimes took him two 

 weeks to go through one time and extract all the 

 honey; and when the honey-flow is good they will 

 fill their hives in five days. One season I extract* 

 ed every third or. fourth" day alternately, and they 

 yielded me 485 lbs. to the hive, spring count, and 

 they will do it again when properly cared for. I 

 want a good and experienced bee-keeper to come 

 and take my bees on shares, and by that means it 

 will be very profitable to us both. I hope by this 

 means to succeed in getting a good man to come 

 and go into the business where it pays. 

 Tempe, Ariz., Sept. 17, 1889. J. L. Gregg. 



Your communication is of more value, 

 perhaps, than you are aware of. For years 

 we have been asking for a report in regard 

 to a honey-crop produced entirely from ar- 

 tificial pasturage, or, in other words, we 

 have asked if there was in existence an 

 area of cultivated plants that would furnish 

 stores right through the season, for a whole 

 apiary. Now, your report tills the bill for 

 an apiary of 190 colonies — yes, more too. 

 You say other apiaries also made good re- 

 sults from this one field of artificial pas- 

 turage, for, of course, alfalfa was unknown 

 until the country was settled. I am so 

 much interested in your report that I feel a 

 strong inclination to make a trip clear to 

 Arizona to see the thing done. Please tell 

 us if you get large yields of honey every sea- 

 son from alfalfa. If you depend on irriga- 

 tion, why should it not be a fixed fact every 

 year ? It is true, that army-worms and in- 

 sects may spoil the crop ; but when you talk 

 about your fifth crop in a single season it 

 seems to me you must be pretty near the 

 bee-keeper's paradise. You spoke of an al- 

 falfa held covering 11 i-sections— or, if I am 

 correct, 1760 acres. I did not know there 

 were 1760 acres, all in one piece, in honey- 

 bearing plants, on the face of the earth — 

 that is, cultivated acres ; and this is not 

 only cultivated, but irrigated. Why did not 

 some one tell me there was such a state of 

 affairs, when I made my recent trip to Cali- 

 fornia V Besides, my youngest brother is 

 near neighbor to you, if I am correct. Now, 

 I wish that both of you would give me a 

 longer letter of particulars. How often is 

 alfalfa irrigated? Do they cover the 

 ground with water as they do in California V 

 What is the land, crop and all, worth per 

 acre ? With your warm climate, and no 

 winter, what is to hinder having a steady 

 flow of honey constantly the whole year 

 through ? for it would be an easy matter to 

 have the alfalfa come so as to give constant 

 bloom at least one part at a time. Can't you 



